The themes of the conference are Finland's presidency in the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, regional co-operation, Arctic security, the new Arctic policies of the EU and Finland, and the relationship between land use, climate change and justice in the Arctic.

The keynote speaker at the conference is Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto who will present the program of the Finnish Barents Presidency. In total, several dozen Finnish and foreign experts will speak at the panels of the event. The conference can be followed both online and on site in Rovaniemi, where about 200 participants are expected in two days.

Rovaniemi Arctic Spirit conferences have been held every two years since 2013. Main organizers are Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland and the City of Rovaniemi. Partners this year are the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Finnish Institute of International Affairs, the Finnish Arctic Society, University of the Arctic, Arctic Network for Climate Adaptation and Food Security (ACAF) and EU Horizon 2020 projects JUSTNORTH, ArcticHubs and CHARTER.

The so-called Rovaniemi process in the early 1990s set in motion international Arctic cooperation in its current form. At that time, there was talk about the “Spirit of Rovaniemi”. The series of conferences bearing this name contributes to the tradition of Finland's proactive Arctic activities.

For more information, registration and program in detail see www.rovaniemiarcticspirit.fi 

Contact information:

Helen Honkasaari
Conference Coordinator
helen.honkasaari(at)ulapland.fi, Tel. +358 40513 7026

Markku Heikkilä
Head of Science Communications, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
markku.heikkila(at)ulapland.fi, Tel. +358 (0)40 484 4300

Anne Raja-Hanhela
Communications specialist, Arctic Centre, University of Lapland
anne.raja-hanhela(at)ulapland.fi, Tel. +358 (0)400 391 337